Johari Abdul-Malik – The Power To Make Change
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About
how
grateful I am for all of the opportunities
that we have.
Without thanking Allah and without thanking Him,
providing us with the guidance of the Quran
and the example of the walking Quran, Muhammad
can't.
Many of us, alhamdulillah,
when we look at the world that we
live in today,
maybe if you
get your news
and information
from
television
and from the internet?
My daughter calls it the,
crazy news network.
Bad news.
They're a 168
hours every week,
and if you go to
the internet or the television or the radio
or the newspaper,
you get a 167
and a half hours of bad news.
I want to invite you
to do something that the companions of the
prophet Muhammad
did
so that you could get the real news.
You could get the real forecast, like you
when you go to the to the news
and you look at the forecast for tomorrow,
people want to know what's going to happen
in the future. What's the temperature gonna be
like? Is it gonna be rain or sunny?
They go to look at the forecast.
Most of the time, I can tell you
if you check the news, the forecast,
the,
what do you call it? Meteorologists?
Fifty50 chance they're right.
I'm gonna invite you to some place where
the forecast is always right.
Imam
said,
if there was nothing else
revealed
from Allah
except
this,
it would have been enough to guide all
of humankind
to the straight
path.
If you had that news,
if you were reading that as the forecast,
then your attitude about the future would be
positive.
Be bright.
Allah swears by his creation time,
and only Allah can swear by his creation
and all of the creation that has since
swears by
Allah.
Everybody
is a loser.
Jew, Christian,
Sikh, Jain, Zoroastrian.
I don't care what you call yourselves.
They're all losers.
Except for the ones who have a connection
with Allah.
Who who have Amin for Allah. They're connected
to Allah.
Everybody except them.
If you're in that group, that's
good news for you.
You should be excited.
And then Allah describes
the characteristic
of what should happen if you have that
connection.
You have that connection, alhamdulillah.
You will
find a partnership.
Follow that Amin,
that connection with Allah,
with
You will follow it with deeds of righteousness.
It's it is the motivation. It's the energy
that comes from your connection with Allah that
will empower you.
Some people want to say, okay, imam
will empower us.
Yeah.
People who have a connection with Allah, they
behave differently than people who don't have a
connection.
People who have a connection with Allah, when
other people think that there's no way we
can come out of this.
The person who has a connection with Allah,
they follow it with with
deeds that are righteous and acceptable to Allah.
When the Masiba hits them, they say, hospital
Allah will never
kill. I'm not afraid
of standing up and making change
because I know that the real might
and the real
power
is with a love.
You know, it's funny, Abraham Lincoln
said,
when they were preparing for a battle
and there were people who were saying that
we pray
that today
that God is on our side.
And Abraham Lincoln,
he said, that's not the way you should
think.
He said, you should think,
are we on God's side?
Because if you're trying to make change, it's
not about what you want,
It's about trying to do what Allah wants.
So
you see, can you engage with people
about what is the ultimate reality?
What is the natural order of things? How
should society
exist and function?
And we need to reason with each other.
What does Allah
identify
as haqqiqa?
Justice
is part of Allah's haqq.
So if you see an environment that no
justice, it's out of order.
If you see an environment where there's poverty,
it's out of the order that Allah
wants to see because, alhamdulillah,
there is enough food on earth to feed
every human being.
No shortage of food.
On earth, there's enough water for everybody on
earth, even though 3% of the world's water
is fresh.
2% of it is frozen.
We had earth day this week where people
around the world are concerned about what do
we do to save the environment. Only 1%
of the world's
water on earth
is drinkable.
But still, alhamdulillah,
if we establish justice, there's enough water on
earth
for everyone.
Well, alhamdulillah,
I'm going to invite you today, watoasaww
bilhaq.
Let us spend some time
to say, if the world is out of
order, what do we do to bring the
world back into order?
And to know,
It won't happen overnight.
It will happen, alhamdulillah,
when people organize themselves
consistently
and persistently
to establish what is right.
Now I'm gonna let you know a secret.
Most of
mankind has thought throughout history
that if the world is out of order,
we can bring it back into order with
war,
So people fight.
Husbands and wives, they have some difficulties so
they think if we just fight,
we'll resolve our problem.
Alhamdulillah,
I
when we start studying about global conflict,
I said, let's look into the life of
the prophet
and see how did he and his companions
make social change.
The first place that you look, subhanAllah,
you read about the raza what?
The battles of the Prophet
But the more you study, the more you
discover, subhanAllah.
The narrative of the prophet alaihis salatu wasalam
is always
working
to bring to his society
maslaha.
How to bring benefit.
And if you work long enough
and hard enough
bringing
maslaha,
benefit to your society,
ultimately
the society
will identify
what is hakiqah.
Let me give you an example.
The prophet
grows up in
the the the Makkah
of that time.
You know, we use the word Makkah now,
to please brothers come forward. Listen brothers, they
want to sit down, but they don't want
to step over you. So if you just
come forward a little bit.
The mecca of the time of the Prophet
and the Jahiliyyah,
they had
in
that city
almost every
kind of vice
known to
man. If you lived in the society where
the prophet
in Makkah,
they had drugs,
alcohol,
prostitution, infanticide,
slavery,
racism,
the oppression of the poor by the rich.
They had gender discrimination.
They had everything
that you could imagine
as a vice.
Gambling.
You name it. They had it.
The Prophet
comes to that society
and lives with them for 13 years,
reminding them to have amin for Allah.
13 years.
They spit on him. They threw garbage on
him. They attacked him. They tried to kill
him.
His response,
We're
going to show them
that we are better than that.
We're going to show them
what rahma really means.
In Mecca for 13 years,
I think many of them knew. I think
Abu Sufyan I think Abu Sufyan, I think
he knew
that the prophet is right, but he just
he just couldn't get with it
till later.
13 years,
But they come to him even before his
prophethood
to ask for his advice. Why?
Because they say he's al Amin.
He's trustworthy.
They know he's trustworthy.
He's honest. He's hardworking.
Bithaweel She marries him because
when he goes with her caravan,
when it comes back,
it always has a better deal than when
other people took the caravan.
I'm not going to surmise. I never heard
in Sira
why, but I have a feeling that some
of them were stealing.
But the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
because of his trustworthy character,
everything about his transaction
is filled with mercy.
SubhanAllah.
If you were to look at the example
of the prophet, you
will see an example of someone who speaks
truth
to power,
who stands up in an environment where there
is corruption
and he speaks
the truth.
I'm reminded, subhanAllah, so many examples.
So many examples that empower us.
I read a hadith,
said that the prophet
said
that cleanliness is half of your deen.
So if the prophet is talking that, that
means he's living that.
The prophet
said, don't waste water if you'll buy a
river. He's an environmentalist.
The prophet
says, when they're loading their animals,
beyond their weight, the prophet says, even the
animal has rights. He's an animal rights activist.
The prophet
says that slavery should be outlawed and his
companions by Bilal ibn Rubar
out of slavery.
To set the example of what we're supposed
to be doing when we live in a
society when there's dulub,
when there's corruption.
SubhanAllah.
I'm gonna say to you today,
no matter what they say in the news,
no matter what some people
do,
I am so grateful
that I'm a Muslim.
I know it's hard,
but to say, I'm
proud to be a Muslim because then you
can access the power.
When something is going on, you can say,
oh, by the way, I'm a Muslim. I
don't believe in that.
Sexism,
racism, I don't believe in that.
When the people are saying, well, what about
Ferguson and all that? You say, if you
would accept Islam, you wouldn't have that problem.
Because as Muslims,
we know that Allah made us different to
tribes and nations,
but Allah told us why.
To
know to know me,
to know you.
And if we if we stray from that,
then we can go back to the words
of the Quran.
That it will guide us.
Now I don't know about many of you,
but I know that this is this is
the last
the last example
of prophethood sent to humankind,
that Muhammad
he is.
He's the last.
There's not gonna be any, you know, like
if you have the,
some software,
every now and then they send you,
an upgrade,
update. You got to update the software. 2.52.63.0.
You got to keep upgrading it.
This last
message,
no more upgrades.
This is it.
Now it's time for you to get with
the program.
Program won't run unless you execute it.
And I'm challenging you today, Bismillah,
get with the program.
Speak truth to power.
Make a difference in your neighborhood.
Have an exemplary family.
Be clean in your exchange. Be honest in
your transactions.
Wanudu Billah, one time I visited a Muslim
country. I'm not gonna tell you the name.
I was about to tell you the name.
I caught Allah, alhamdulillah. I caught myself.
Brother said, be careful, when you go into
the market,
if the man who is doing the transaction
says, know
that he's lying.
I'm not going to tell you what country.
You probably think it's your country, right?
Said thank Allah, all of us American now,
that, at
least in the in the dealing that Muslims
do here, is
is fair dealing.
We have an opportunity.
1 man said on a television program, he
said, the average American will never
read the Quran.
I can imagine. Well, the good news, I
I know my son, I grew up in
Brooklyn, I'm I'm an American, you know,
original, Leslie. I'm original American. Somebody said, really?
I said, Leslie. Yeah, original.
But, alhamdulillah,
I learned
about this deen
by the grace of Allah.
But there are many people, alhamdulillah,
they will never
read the Quran. The average American reads less
than 1 book a year.
After they finish school,
they're not required to read
less than 1 book a year.
The Quran begins
as a book.
Allah taught us.
Read.
Your neighbor is not reading.
How will your neighbor know?
Because they'll see you.
In Aisha
she said that Muhammad
he was a walking
Quran
I want you with whatever Quran you have
to become a walking Quran to become an
exemplar of the Quran
in your neighborhood in your society on your
job in your family, in your work, everywhere,
alhamdulillah,
that people see it, they say if this
is what Islam is, then I'm for Islam.
A man came to me. I was in
an interfaith
dialogue and they were meeting with the priests
and the rabbi and all that. And they
said, what
we're all here
as part of Virginians organized
for interfaith community engagement,
and we want to ask the different religious
leaders,
what is it about
their faith
that led them to social justice?
What is it about your faith that led
you to social justice?
So each one of them, they said, oh,
I read in the Bible, it said you
should do so and so, and then I
started looking and looking, and then I found,
okay, I should this issue here, I should
do something about it because the Bible told
me so.
So they said, Imam Johari,
what in Islam
led you to be interested in social justice?
I said, I think you're asking the wrong
question.
I said, it is a love for social
justice
that led me to Islam.
That the desire to do something about poverty
and hunger and homelessness and racism and oppression,
if you have that in here,
when you look out for some place that
you can do that, subhanAllah, you should find
it.
And the example of the Quran and in
the actions of the Prophet
So my time is up today.
But I want you to become a lover
of justice.
Someone who is not afraid to make change.
To know that making change is possible,
but to do it before you die. Don't
wait till tomorrow.
I have a short commercial.
This weekend is an important weekend in Daraghty.
One, on Saturday
at 9 o'clock, we will gather
at the Woodrow Wilson Library
not far from here.
It's on the internet from Dal Hijra, the
flies are there,
to clean
our neighborhood,
walking the streets with our neighbors and friends.
Remember, your neighbor won't read the Quran,
probably.
But if they see you,
you're wearing your your your beautiful abaya
from Western Sahara of Mauritania,
people see you, they say, subhanAllah,
that guy, he must be Muslim.
They say, you mind if I ask you
a question? You say, sure, I was
waiting. Why are you doing this? You say,
because this is what our Prophet taught us.
They said, wow, that's not what I see
on CNN. He said, yeah, that's because you're
not reading the Quran.
Let me get you a copy of the
Quran, so you'll read what Islam really is
about.
9 o'clock,
neighborhood cleanup.
12 o'clock, we come back from that, and
on the grounds of Dalahitjarah, we'll have picnic.
Invite your friends and your neighbors to come,
have a hot dog.
Halal hot dog.
Your neighbor said, what? You say, yeah. This
is halal.
Because Allah taught us how to eat, what
not to eat.
Then for some of us, you know the
hadith of the prophet he said,
that cleanliness
is half of deen.
I'm joking.
The youth are having car wash.
If you have a dirty car, bring it.
Even if your car is not dirty, bring
it.
Let the youth wash your car, and they
raise money for the youth programs
to keep these young people on the saraq
al Mustaqim.
And for those of you who realize that
in this community,
there are some people who are jacking up
the price of housing
because they want to make it an exclusive
neighborhood.
Exclusive in the English language has a word
inside of exclusive,
the word exclude.
There is a desire in this neighborhood
to exclude some people. You know who I'm
talking about?
To exclude some people. They raise the rent,
they turn the affordable housing into luxury condo.
And some of the brothers and sisters, they
come to me, they say, imam,
my building, they want to get rid of
me. They say that, you Muslims, you have
too many children.
Too many for the apartment, you have to
go out.
And if you want to find another apartment,
you have to live in Leesburg
because they don't want you to live in
this neighborhood.
So we're going to fight them.
We're going to fight them
by organizing on what is haqq
and we're going to organize
with sabr.
Consistency
and persistency
until we establish justice
and affordable housing in this community.
I'm asking those of you who live in
Arlington, they live on Columbia Pike,
to join us on Sunday,
after the noon prayer in the library,
to join with other people who live in
this neighborhood who say, we have the right
to live here even if we're poor.
I love the prophet
I love
him. When he moved to,
he didn't say I want to live in
a rich neighborhood.
I want to live in the fine home.
He just let the camel go to wherever
and then said wherever he said, that's where
I'm gonna live.
So there's no discrimination.
Brothers and sisters, join us this weekend, Saturday
Sunday.
With the help of Allah, they will make
change in this community,
that Allah would reward us with the best
in this life
and the best in the hereafter.
There was going to be a janazah after
salah,
so I want to also let you know
that
there are many who are suffering right now
with the violence in Yemen.
And Islamic Relief has an event on
May 1st,
next Friday.
And we know them. They have a good
relationship with the state department and and with
foreign service and international relief organizations
so that we know that your your donation
is not going to fall in the wrong
hands.
But bidnila,
don't be afraid
to reach out and help those who are
suffering,
either around the corner
or around the world.
O Allah, guide us among those whom you
have guided.
Protect us, You Allah, among those whom you
have protected.
O Allah, take us as a friend among
those whom you have taken as a friend.
O Allah, guide us, alhamdulillah, that we might
be on your haqq, You Allah. O Allah,
and that you might grant us the
the the wherewithal to have sabr, You Allah,
through the difficulties of this life. O Allah,
we ask for your mercy and your peace
on our families, You Allah. O Allah, give
us rizkuntayibun,
You Allah. Give us a righteous income,
Make us to have the countenance, You Allah.
Oh, help us
through the the difficulties, the challenges of this
life. Oh, Allah. Those of us who are
having diseases, you Allah, we ask for your
shifa, you Allah. Oh Allah, we ask,
that put love between the hearts of the
husbands and the wives, you Allah. Oh Allah,
between the parents and the children, you Allah.
Oh Allah, calls us to have mercy on
our own people, you Allah. Oh Allah, we
ask,
that you keep us on a salaf al
mustaqim, you Allah. Oh, Allah, keep us on
your salaf al mustaqim.
Oh, Allah, keep us on your salaf al
mustaqim.
That we might live and die, you Allah,
only in the deen of Islam. Oh, Allah,
we ask for your mercy and your peace
on those who are suffering, you Allah, around
the corner and around the world. Oh, and
we ask for your mercy and your peace
on Muhammad sallallahu
alayhi wasallam, and on his family and on
his companions and on all of the MBI,
you Allah, and those who follow the way
of your Haqqi, you Allah, until the day
of judgment.
Ameen.